It’s almost like deja vu. Only this time I was a little bit wiser, and laid on home made cup cakes, duly decorated with African animals, made by my daughter. The chocolates, too, (a birthday gift from the day before) were useful. And the girls in the Christian Resource Centre, Eastbourne, kept us well lubricated with countless cups of tea.

My guests were almost the same as four years ago when my first novel, Breath of Africa, was launched. A dear couple whom I’d not known in Kenya, and who didn’t look a day older, David Lockwood, ex-white hunter / conservationist, and Reinhild Maxtone-Mailer, author. We sat and chatted comfortably, before Stephen Lloyd walked in. Given that a general election has only just been called, I would have forgiven him if he’d forgotten his promise to come and say “jambo”. (He was born in Kenya).

Stephen is launching into a full-blooded campaign to regain the seat he narrowly lost to the Conservatives two years ago. I wish him good fortune to go with his hard work. He devoured two cup cakes, before organising us for a photo, posing for a selfie with one of the girls, buying my book, then disappearing with a cheery wave. Were those two cakes his lunch, I wondered…

One or two others wandered in, and joined me for a cuppa and a chat, which resulted in more book sales than expected. Before I knew it, I had overstayed my two hour slot by almost 50%. A very pleasant and peaceful experience, befitting my advancing years.

Thankyou everyone… not least my long-term People Matter colleague and friend, Ray Dadswell, whose prayerful column, Pause for Thought, in the Eastbourne Herald’s Advertiser in days gone by, I remember well. He arrived with a bunch of birthday flowers, seen in the picture below, bottom left. They are blossoming nicely now, in our sitting-room, turning their heads to the sun. On the right of the picture you can see the plate of cup cakes, and the chocolates.

Grass Shoots is the sequel to Breath of Africa. As well as being a unique love story, it touches on the problem of charity, and how it works – or doesn’t – in Africa. It can be read as a stand alone, although you’d benefit from reading Breath of Africa first!

You can buy all my books at the Christian Resource Centre, Eastbourne.